BHCC Archives: Guidelines

The Archives materials may be used by appointment in a designated area in the library during regular library hours under the supervision of a librarian.

The signed permission of the Library Director is required for visitors not currently employed or otherwise affiliated with BHCC. They may be required to submit a request letter before visiting and produce an affirmative response from the Library Director as a means of access to the BHCC Archives' materials.

All visitors will be required to sign the BHCC Archives Visitor Register and be prepared to produce valid identification if the attending librarian requests it. The visitor's register is kept for usage and other statistical purposes and is protected under the rules of confidentiality of library users.

Trained library staff will be available to assist visitors in using finding aids (i.e. databases and indexes) to identify and locate archival materials. Visitors must follow the preservation guidelines for using materials in the Archives.

The Archives maintains a collection consisting of selected photographs and slides documenting College personnel, students, campus life, and events. The current photograph collection represents the college and student life in fragments and is under development.

The BHCC Communications Department, when possible, will provide photographs of College events with annotations, which should include dates, names and locations. Routine calls will be put out to encourage contributions to the retrospective as well as current college photograph collection.

The Archives currently contains one Special Collection. This collection is the Harold E. Shively Special Collection, consisting of artifacts and documents relating to the founding president of Bunker Hill Community College.

For a detailed listing of records included in these collections, please see the BHCC Archives Index

The Bunker Hill Community College Archives is the official repository for the historical records of the College.

Archival records are defined as those that have lasting historical value to the College community and support the mission of the College Archives, and are therefore permanently preserved and, whenever possible, made accessible for research purposes.

The Archives Collection Development guidelines apply across the college departments, as criteria for determining the appropriate materials for inclusion in the BHCC Archives.

The BHCC Communications Department and its Office of Institutional Effectiveness agree to work in collaboration with the library to review and encourage Archives submissions and to ensure that all eligible College publications are routinely included in the BHCC Archives collection. Publications produced with BHCC logo are a mandatory part of the Archives collection.

Before you begin the process of transferring records to the BHCC Archives, you will need to make sure that the Archives is the correct destination for them. Some records hold permanent value for individual departments, offices, or individuals, but may not be identified as having permanent value to the Archives.

Records of permanent historical and archival value to the College include, but are not limited to:

Primary papers of the Office of the President - policy statements, reports, correspondence, business files, speeches, and memoranda.

Records that hold administrative, fiscal, or legal value, but that do not fall within the Archives purview, will remain in the office or department of creation, and must be retained or discarded according to federal and state regulations.

State regulations are outlined in the Massachusetts Statewide Records Retention Schedule. Please refer to the Records Management section of this guideline. If you have materials that you believe may be of lasting historical value, but that do not fit into the above list, please contact a member of the Archives staff to discuss the material.

Please contact the Library at 617-228-2213 or via the following e-mail BHCCLibrary@bhcc.mass.edu to see the BHCC Retention Schedule document for more information.

Records produced for and by BHCC are considered by law to be public records. The Massachusetts Public Record Law provides that any person has a right to access public information. (Exemptions apply. See also Massachusetts General Law statutes 27, 36.)

The following are given as general guidance in the preparation of records before transfer to the Archives:

Remove all extraneous fasteners (binder clips, rubber bands, paper clips) wherever possible. Metal fasteners rust; rubber bands lose elasticity over time and adhere to the surface of paper; many adhesives, such as glue, sticky tape, rubber cement, spray mount adhesives, degrade over time and stain paper. Removing and limiting the use of these materials will help prevent future physical and chemical damage to the records, and ensure their longevity in the Archives.

Materials housed in binders should, whenever possible, be removed from the binders and placed in folders.

Posters should not be mounted on foam-board, and should not be rolled up and held by rubber bands.

When bringing or preparing materials to be brought to the Archives:

Records and materials should be carefully collected to preserve order and integrity. All materials gathered from a single source should be kept together as much as possible.

Files and folders being brought to the Archives should be placed carefully in boxes. The outside of the box should be clearly labeled with: the department/office/individual responsible for the creation of the records, name of the individual packing the box, date box was filled, number of boxes in sequence.

This information will help provide the archivist processing the collection with necessary information regarding the history of the materials, and will provide a point of contact should questions regarding specific items arise.

Example: Office of the President John Jones December 1, 2009 Box 1 of 2

Create a content list of the folders/groups/items within the box. This will assist the archivists as they process the box, and provide a starting point for understanding what boxes contain.

Contact the Archives to make arrangements for pick-up or delivery and fill out an Archives deposit slip.

Additionally, BHCC Archives staff are available to advise departments and offices on which records, print or electronic, should be retained, destroyed, or transferred to the Archives. Please contact the Library, at 617-228-2213 or via the following e-mail BHCCLibrary@bhcc.mass.edu to see the BHCC Retention Schedule document or for assistance of any kind.

The BHCC Archives document the history of the college by collecting materials created by the administration, faculty, students, and staff during their time at the College. The Archives is the primary collector of all official College publications. Following Publications Collections (PC) represent the types of materials that are considered to have archival value, and thus acquired by the College's Archives:

The Archives collects various documents produced by and for the College that provide a record of activities. Historical documents include official records from the Office of the College President, NEASC accreditation records, committee agendas and meeting minutes (including Board of Trustees meetings), evaluations and reports, and event program records. Only those College records determined by the Archives to have enduring historical value will be accepted.

The following BHCC Documents Collection (Record Groups/ RC) are part of the Archives collection and the list continues to be expanded.

Because the records created by the administrative and academic offices of Bunker Hill Community College are voluminous, the Archives is not able to reasonably provide the necessary resources, including staff, equipment, or storage facilities, to address the preservation and access requirements for all of these records. The majority of these records are created for specific purposes and do not have lasting historical value. The following materials are not collected by the Archives:

Financial transaction records

Payroll records

Course scheduling records, syllabi, and evaluations

Personnel records

Student transcripts

Routine administrative records

Duplicated material, or materials collected for reference purposes only

Classroom aids, posters, books, or other materials used for classroom instruction

General College memorabilia (e.g. Plastic bags with college logos, sweatshirts, etc) excluding materials that have historical significance because of their ownership (e.g. items formerly owned by President Shively).